PAS information chief Idris Ahmad said that party vice president Salahuddin Ayub would chair the task force while its land and regional development bureau chief, Mazlan Aliman, would head the special secretariat.
Mazlan is also the chairman of National Association for Children of Felda Settlers (Anak).
“Since the decision was made last Sunday, PAS wants to be more serious with Felda-related issues… the issues affecting the interests of Felda settlers are getting critical as new issues arise,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
“This is an important decision because PAS wants Felda issues to be resolved wholly,” he added.
He also said that it was time for the party to manage Felda issues in a more organised and serious manner.
“We think that it will only be implemented well if we have a special secretariat and a specific task force,” he said.
The special secretariat is to be the executive body on issues related to the federal land settlements while the special task force will act to resolve those issues.
“Lately, we’ve seen more and more issues affecting the Felda settlers, for example the increase in legal suits against the federal authority,” he said, adding that such issues had to be dealt with properly.
In July, Anak had organised a meeting with Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to discuss the idea of forming a caucus for Felda’s management and administration.
Among the issues raised were ownership issues, income and the contracts between the government agency and the settlers.
Last month, the Federal Court ordered Felda to pay RM11 million to 354 Felda Kemahang Three settlers in Kelantan over the manipulation of the palm oil grades.
The settlers had sued Felda for between RM20,000 and RM30,000 each in general damages, claiming that the agency had given a lower grading on the quality of palm oil between 1996 and 2002, which had caused a loss in income for the settlers.
Felda settlers in Mokil, Pagoh and the Felda group settlement in Raja Alias, Negeri Sembilan, have also file similar suits against the federal authority.
